12 I Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010 Set pieces continuing to trouble Lions By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN staff writer Alter her team conceded two eoals off of free kicks Sunday, ifmma Thomson ■vas clearly frus- =—== . . WOMEN'S W rule the junior defender wasn't bUL ' LtK /' on Slate women's soccer team ij'j Liven up the goals, she was •■on- upset that they came after sacks of repeated drills on set jlcce defense. "It was very disappointing .o'-au.se all week we had worked m set pieces," Thomson said "We've put so much emphasis a-, set pieces, before practice or titer, everyone’s been going out mci working on clearances, head rs -laving with their markers csv time." !ii t (■ plenty of work and drills cl, on set pieces, the Nittany have struggled at times on v-a'nsive end. rule there have been several . s contributing, overall the ; ii;s shown improvement sweep ■d the ball for a Penn ccit hostile environment at St. John "That's what happens when you I'.ii.'-keucs believed it was Arena. Carpenter said some fans have to deal with when you go contact, and coach Geoff picked on the Lions' Cathy Quilico. away." n let! the sideline and con- a 5-foot-l defensive specialist. "You just have to deal with it. 10. call with the officials She said the crowd began and tonight we did." thio Shite was forced to call singing "The Oompa Loompa c Song” from Charlie and the Secondary c leadership and produc udpoint. Sukav's absence orondary that hasn't been ’ he i iircc losses, but most •nudes can be attributed r i.li-s rush. After being • d tor lus performance last c. sukay was in the midst of ..s.('iii war before the injury, three interceptions, and :< missing most of the gmic. remains sixth on the iC 'ackies tin- five safety. Sukay was 1 in charge of calling cover -. .uni Asionno said his pres "c ike will now be vital to - '-access ■o-iy he's a little bit i-nit who wouldn't be 9 " ".'.id. "But he's keeping - high He's been coming ■w He helps out the ways, but he keeps a pos- soide. and he's obviously a !• iin- team, so we're going hi'i- to stay positive." > iutlc bit of everything." • cl; Michael Zordieh said. !;, s going to be technique ire's always going to be things that you need to tlx. i ; •: "i it ts attitude, too." in.'! need to be mean up go Lions average just 126 .'.aids per game, hi expects to stay eom- ickson tu-btiity. Nickson showed lead ■»> ito'pite merely sitting on belie;: during home games .-toying behind in Happy ;■ during road trips. her teammates were on • rip.'. Nickson would send 'is usages to her teammates messages that ended with die Gloty•" to keep her team - encouraged. s season. Xickson will bring o.idership skills onto the iprrn . . lif.nr .'niyt ulitsjwiiad. , arp always popular j. Sounds good but trio ih-.HjlifH' is ivxt wthek g2gttyl. over the course of the season. The biggest blow to Penn State’s set piece defense came on Sept. 12 when sophomore centre back Lexi Marton went down with a knee injury against Portland. Losing the 5-foot-l 1 defender, who is in the Canadian national team pool, removed a physical and vocal presence from the box. “We’ve missed Lexi in a bunch of games just with her communi cation and her size,” sophomore midfielder Christine Naim said. “She’s definitely one of the leaders for us but a lot of people have stepped up, whether it’s Emma or Carly [Niness] winning those head balls.” Against Wisconsin, the free kicks played well into the Badgers style of play and Thomson said the more the Lions put the ball in the air, it made Wisconsin more dan gerous. Last Friday against Minnesota, a cross found the defense spread out and caught out of position, leading to a goal. While the cross wasn't a true set piece, the Golden Gophers had enough time to set up the play, and Thomson said she was upset the players were caught off-guard on “It was a tough match and we competed hard," coach Russ Rose said. “And that’s what you have to do when you’re on the road." The crowd also contributed to a The implications of Sukav's injury combined with Powell's lack of production on offense (three catches for 11 yards) led the junior to ask Joe Patemo for a switch to defense. Powell practiced at cor nerback in the preseason before being moved to offense with injuries at a couple skill positions. Paterno, however, said aside from an opportunity, nothing else is guaranteed for Powell. “He's got to make a spot for himself," Patemo said. Junior cornerback D'Anton Lynn is convinced Powell will establish that spot. Right now Powell is listed as the backup right cornerback on the depth chart. "He's right where he left off [in the summer]," said Lynn, who hasn't taken any reps at safety in the absence of Sukay despite com ing to Penn State playing the posi tion. "There were a couple of new defenses he had to learn, but he picked those up the first day.” Given Powell's athleticism. Lynn is confident Powell will be able to transfer his performance from practice to games. mitted to the ground game and establish a rhythm. Though the situation of the game dictates the team's dedica tion to establishing the running game as evidenced by the Lions' inability to rush for more than 70 yards while trying to play catch up during each of their last two losses the team wants the run game to be a big part of its offensive identity, Wisniewski said. The coaches grabbed the atten tion of all the players by stripping them of their colored jerseys dur- eourt at the Bryce Jordan Center. T think I'm a leader by exam ple, so they took that and thought that was good,” Nickson said on media day. "I also help my team mates calm down, boost them up. everything like that. I'm a well rounded person so I think that had something to do with it." Nickson said she decided to leave Boston College, where she averaged just 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game her freshman year, because she said she was not particularly needed. Washington had been familiar with Nickson after recruiting her out of high SPORTS that play. Penn State coach Erica Walsh said Sunday Wisconsin had the heart to win on set pieces Sunday. “Set pieces have been our nemesis and we’ve spent a lot of time working on them," Walsh said. “But [Wisconsin] proved today why we’ve struggled with them so much.” The players aren't oblivious to the struggles and Nairn said it’s annoying that they have trouble stopping set piece goals. Midfielder Maddy Evans said the players knew set pieces and balls in the air would be a big factor in Sunday’s game and going into the match, the players felt like they were prepared for it. which added to the frustration of that loss. Nairn has seen an improvement in the overall defense and said it's all about having the right mindset now. The remainder of the Lions sea son is do-or-die and with set pieces so pivotal to their success. Nairn said it s going to take an entire team effort to shore up the defense. There's nothing we can say Chocolate Factory and "It's a Small World" to throw Quilico off her game. "It wasn't tough, we're used to things like that." Carpenter said. To e-mail reporter: exkso49@psu.edu It is unclear how the Lions plan to use Powell, but he may see time in the nickel package, where Lynn would likely shift to cover a slot receiver as he did before nickel back Derrick Thomas was sus pended for undisclosed reasons. Astorino and Lynn also had praise for Malcolm Willis, a sopho more safety 1 who was at the top of this week's depth chart at free safety before Astorino's move was officially announced - and had played in the nickel package against Illinois. Astorino said the athletic Willis looks like a first-team safety in practice, but he said given the relationship between him and Sukay on the field, Sukay's injure can't be underestimated in the defense's progress. 'We've got to be lighter in every aspect of the game and we just didn't do it and they took advantage." At halftime. Warming said did most of the talking, i-ameihing he never wants to do snore titan a few times each season The coach wen! as iar as it; say Wednesday's first ha!! was one of the poorest he's seer, at home in his long coaching career UMBd plated a good and Warming '.aid Retrievers didn't di To e-mail reporter: ajcs23B@psu.edu the game because die;-, pi "We knew where each other were going to be.” Astorino said. T knew he was going to make the big plays ... I'm definitely going to miss his presence on the field, but we just have to have guys step up and play." ing bye week practices, and though no major changes came of it the offensive line has some play ers possibly looking over their shoulders. While Zordich said the move should help inspire his teammates to play with more enthusiasm and understand that no jobs are set. Wisniewski said he was unsure whether or not some of the offen sive linemen might be more nerv ous. DeOn'tae Panned, who previ ously started at left guard and was school, so that connection led to the transfer to Penn State. A G-foot-2 forward from Ashburn. Va.. Nickson was desertbed by the Lions' lone sen ior and other co-captain. Julia Trogeie. as the Jamelie Cornlcy of Penn State women's basketball because she is an undersized post player, passionate and a hard working player. "One thing you can see in Mia is a certain type of toughness she carries herself with," Trogeie said, adding it never really felt like Nickson wasn't playing last year. "She is a very' physical player. | Stay up to date jfct ; on deadlines and -- I promotions! J ! wvvw twitter.com/mycollegianad that will make it better," Nairn into our heads like coach has been said. doing, we'll be fine.” “But. if we continue to make it a mindset and just keep banging it To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu Emma Thomson (right) males a slide tackle in a match against Wisconsin. Thomson said ine Lions have been practicing set pieces. replaced by .iohm has been praciiciny with the -- ond team at tackle. Wisniewski said. With t'hima Okoii piepnrmg to make his third career star! at right tackle. Wisniew ski is clouisi his best to be a sonnr ieader ;md help Okoii improve. the guys, (’liima in particular" Wisniewski said. "He's pretty new in there. There's a lot oi things he's learning about, dillcrent blocking schemes. ineiwurk and things." which makes you want to respect her. Last year, when she was a practice player, she would hud us a lot on both olfense and detense. That's jus! the type of game that she plays, so that generates a lot of respeet on the court " Nickson said it was hard sitting out last season, but she feels she learned a lot. especially patience. "I feel like as a player on the court, the game is always going a certain speed, but you don't have to go the speed of the game." Nickson said. "You have to go the speed of what you can do." She won't have to be patient too Soccer From Page 8 14th goal off a feed from Jordan TYler. "It's unreal.' Cost said 'The kid has the flu. can barley run and he gets himself wide open in the box and nails a left-footed vollev." "It's awesome, we needed him tonight and he contributed." Though the Lions turned up the intensity in the second halt, the players realized it shouldn't have taken 45 minutes and one very sick teammate to happen. Sophomore defender Brian Forgue said the players over looked Wednesday's same :n a sense because it was a midweek game without mud', hype- lead mg into a pivotal showdown with Big Ten foe Ohio State. "It was a poor pertormance from too to bottom." Forgue With Zordich hoping he and the me will be able to create creases tor running back Evan Royster, he >aal the running game should reap the benefits from last week's inti use practices. "Evan's a great back and he's shown that in the last years." j've been coachine up a lot <H Zordieh said. IV< Mj! n'i • i n The Daily Collegian “It was a poor performance from top to bottom.” hard. The last time the Lions were home, they played in front of a raucous crowd against the No. 1 team in the country, but Wednesday there was a small crowd and Warming said it's a test to get energized without strong fan support. "The mark of good players is when you can do it when no one' s here and you do it for the pride in yourself and the pride in your school and program," Warming said. T have to take the blame for that, the guys weren't excited about playing tonight so that falls straight back on me." With the Buckeyes looming on Saturday. Cost said the focus is new on getting back to practice and turning in strong training sessions before the game. While Forgue said he hopes Ohio State is enough to get the team moti vated. there's one player he doesn't have to worry about. "It's unbelievable how Corey comes in and he's a game changer." Forgue said. "I know he was feeling really under the weather but I commend him for giving us all he had tonight and it showed. The rest of us. we didn't reciprocate." VC io host epurter adrso79@psu.edu •; i'lj! "And once we give him the opportunity, he will take advan tage of that. He's been doing that all week." much longer, though. Penn State, w inch linished last year 17-14 and lost in the first round of the WNIT. plays an exhibition game against Gannon on Nov. 7 at the BJC. The Lions open their regular reason on Nov. 12 at Davton. T really just wanted to get out there sometimes, especially to help with the rebounding and the posting up on the bigger players." Nickson said of sitting out last year. "But 1 learned a lot, so now I'm excited to go and play the game." to e-mail reporter: jyksl42@psu.edu Damei Sett Collegian Brian Forgue sophomore defender porter aass22o@psu.edu
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers